


february stars

by alwaysgolden



Series: temporary scars / february stars [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, OKAY I'M NOT USED TO WRITING NON 1D CHARACTERS SO SORRY IF JIMMY IS WRITTEN POORLY, PLEASE STICK AROUND FOR THE END BECAUSE THEY PERFORM ON THE SHOW AND I CRIED WRITING IT, again idk what made me write this, it's cute, parts are funny and fluff others are serious, post coming out interview, the tonight show interview, they answer fan question too !! and play little games !!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:14:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysgolden/pseuds/alwaysgolden
Summary: harry and louis' first interview and performance on the tonight show since their coming out.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: temporary scars / february stars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793317
Comments: 6
Kudos: 81





	february stars

Louis looks up at Harry, smiling despite the fact he can’t fully see his face. He grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing his hand. He looks so beautiful in his emerald suit, it brings out his eyes. Louis wipes a bit of fuzz off the front of his navy suit jacket, taking a deep breath before speaking to Harry. 

“Ready?” Louis whispers, leaning into Harry.

“Yeah.” Harry breathes out, pressing a kiss to Louis’ temple. 

“Hey,” Louis takes his free hand and moves it to cup Harry’s cheek, “I love you with my entire heart. I’m proud of you, I’m proud of us for this.”

Harry leans in and kisses Louis quickly, a small smile on his lips. “I’m proud too. I love you so much my darling.”

They stay quiet for the final moments before the curtain opens, listening to Jimmy introduce them to the crowd.

“Our guests for tonight are two of my favorite people that I’ve met over the years. I love them, I really do. They’ve been on the show a number of times with their band One Direction, and as solo artists as well. Tonight’s a little different, and I’m so honored to have them here for such a special show. It’s gonna be so much fun. Please welcome Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson!”

The two walk out hand in hand, smiling and waving at the crowd, which has bursted into an ear piercing applause. Jimmy walks out from behind his desk to greet the two in a group hug. 

“How are you?” He asks the two, smiling widely when he notices them holding hands. 

“Good, good.” The pair say at the same time. They walk to the couch, blowing kisses to the crowd with their free hands and smiling as they sit down.

“Oh my God. It’s been so long!” Jimmy says, smiling genuinely at the two. 

“I know! We missed you Jimmy.” Louis says. 

“First of all, congratulations. I mean, you guys actually broke the entire Internet! Twitter was down for God knows how long, and Instagram was glitching like crazy. You guys can really say you shut down the Internet with one video.” Jimmy laughs. 

The crowd laughs, Harry and Louis look at each other and shrug with a slight giggle. 

“Thank you, it means a lot. And sorry about the Internet?” Harry says. The crowd laughs again, and Louis looks at his boy with a soft smile. 

Jimmy laughs too, but quickly grows serious. “I’m so honored to be your first interview since the news. This is amazing for you two! What was it like for you guys to put that video out into the world? You must have been feeling so many different things. It felt so honest and raw, I was watching and just couldn’t believe the emotion behind it all.”

“It was a lot, you know?” Harry rests his hand on Louis’ thigh. Louis tenses up a bit, but relaxes when he realizes they can do this now. “It was a really emotional moment for us. We didn’t know what the reaction was going to be. Obviously we hoped for the best case scenario where it was more acceptance than hate, which was the reaction we thankfully got. It was a really long road to get to this point, but the second we posted the video, we shut off everything and just stayed with each other for the day.”

Louis nods, “We wanted to know what everyone was saying, so it was hard to shut literally everything off, we didn’t even turn on our TV. At the end of the day we’re real people taking a very large step in our lives in a very public manner and we just wanted to be there for each other before letting anyone else’s thoughts on our relationship impact our feelings. Taking that day to just be with each other before facing the comments helped us get through.”

“So you guys posted the video about two weeks ago at this point, right? How have things been since then?”

Harry turns to look at Louis and smiles. Louis takes the lead. “Really, really nice for the most part. I mean, with all things it takes time to get used to. Last time we were on the show together, which was years ago at this point, we didn’t even sit next to each other. Now we can actually hold hands and just be… normal? We’re like this all the time in private and it's nice to not have to think ‘Oh, let go of his hand because there’s people around and they might say something’ or ‘Stand back from him or else you’ll never hear the end of it from higher ups’, you know? There isn’t as much thought that goes into it, everything is just natural and so simple lately. It’s been really freeing. There have been some negative comments and they do hurt, but I have Harry to make everything better.”

The crowd coos, and Jimmy smiles widely at the two. “How did the other guys in the band react to it, did they know you were doing it? What did your families say?”

Louis nods as Harry speaks, “All three of them knew it was happening. I mean they were among the first to know that we were together. They’ve been so supportive through it all, obviously they texted us when we officially dropped the news, but yeah. We love them all so much. Our families knew as well, they checked in throughout the day but we didn’t answer until a lot later that night. It was just nice to know that they were there for us and they’ve been some of our biggest supporters since the beginning.”

“So you guys have been together for…”

“Twelve years.” Louis chimes in. 

“Oh my God! That long?” Jimmy leans back in his chair with a shocked expression. He leans forward and places a hand over his mouth as he waits for Louis to confirm once again.

“Yeah, twelve years with the man I love.” The audience makes a bunch of endeared sounds. 

“That’s nearly half of your lives. Wow, I can’t believe it.”

“And every single day is better than the last.” Harry kisses Louis’ temple, and the audience lets out little cheers. Louis blushes, but leans slightly so he’s closer to Harry. 

Jimmy smiles at the two, and then turns to the camera. “We’re going to do something a little bit different tonight. We wanted to give fans the chance to ask some questions, so I had everyone in the audience to write down one thing they want to know the answer to and they’re in this bowl right here,” Jimmy pulls a bowl out from under his desk, “so we’re going to have the two pick out some questions randomly. I’ll read the questions, and they’ll give us their answers.”

The audience cheers, and Harry and Louis look at each other. 

“What do you say, babe?” Louis asks quietly. 

“It’s what the people want.” Harry chuckles, finding Louis’ hand and lacing their fingers together. 

“Alright, Louis. You’re closest to me so you get to pick the first question.” Jimmy holds the bowl out for Louis. 

Louis reaches a hand into the bowl and fishes out the first question. He hands the paper to Jimmy, who scans it quickly before reading out loud, “We all know your tattoos are matching, which set is your favorite? Congratulations by the way!”

Harry giggles, thinking about it for a few seconds before answering, “Thank you for your question. I like our rose and dagger.”

Louis nods, “Good choice. I’ll have to go with my compass and your ship.”

The audience cheers, and Jimmy laughs.

“Harry, would you pick the next question?” Jimmy asks. 

Harry reaches into the bowl, opposite hand still holding Louis’ as he goes to the bottom of the bowl, fishing around for a few moments before pulling out a paper and handing it to Jimmy. 

Jimmy smiles as he reads the question. “Okay, this one is cute. Who said they liked who first?”

Harry and Louis smile at each other widely before answering at the same time. 

“It was me.”

“Louis.”

Jimmy laughs, “Can we know the story?”

“You tell it Lou, you sap.”

Louis swats at Harry’s chest playfully before answering. “It’s not really as dramatic as everyone wants it to be. Once we got put in the band, there was obviously something between us. I don’t know, there was just one day at the house where we were alone and I had been wanting to tell Harry but I never found the right time to say it, and there was my moment. I told him while we were on the couch playing Fifa, and he said he liked me back. Simple as that.”

The audience lets out a chorus of ‘Aww’s as Louis turns to them and smiles. 

“That’s so cute! Harry, what were your first thoughts when Louis said he liked you?”

“I thought ‘Oh thank God’.” Harry says dramatically. 

The crowd laughs, and Jimmy bites back a smile. He nudges the bowl toward Louis, who pulls a folded piece of paper from the middle of the bowl and hands it to Jimmy. 

“This one’s a bit more serious, you guys up for it?”

The two nod. 

“How have you been able to stay so strong despite being put through so much? I’m in a similar situation, and I just want to know how you were able to do it.”

Harry and Louis look at each other, Louis grabbing Harry’s hand as he notices the emotion in his face. 

“Uhm, this might get a little deep if that’s okay.” Harry says quietly. 

“Of course, whatever you want to share.” Jimmy encourages. 

“Well,” Harry turns so he’s looking at Louis, not paying attention to anyone else, “it’s really hard when everyone around you who’s supposed to care about you and your career tell you that your innocent love is evil and vile and will ruin your career. We decided to stay together though, because we knew that there was a bond between us and we couldn’t risk breaking or losing it. We’ve been through some of the highest highs and reached the lowest of lows where things were… yeah. When I look at the bigger picture, I know I can’t imagine my life without Louis in it. Every big life event I see him, always him. In the back of my mind I always knew there would be a day where we would be free to love, and now that it’s here I’m so glad we never gave up on each other, on our relationship.”

Louis wipes Harry’s tears, the studio falling completely silent. He bites back a cry as he takes his turn. “I agree with everything Harry said. It does get hard when everyone can see through the lies, you think to yourself, you know, ‘Why can’t we just be out when the whole world can tell that we love each other? What’s the point of hiding it?’. You have people trying to tear you down, but love truly does conquer all in the end. For me personally, even when I was mad at the entire world and the pressure felt too much to handle, I came to realize that my love for Harry would always outweigh the negativity. All the higher ups constantly told us we would never be successful, and they were wrong because despite the fact we had to hide our love, we made it in every way possible. We’re sitting on this couch telling our story to an audience of thousands of people, and I think that’s the most amazing thing to come out of all of this. We stayed because we love each other, we work hard to maintain a healthy relationship, and we have a really amazing love because of it. I don’t know if that really answered your question, but uhm, I would say don’t give up because you’ll find people who love you for who you are and care about your love. You’re strong, you’ve got this, and uhm, yeah, we’re proud of you. Right Haz?”

Harry nods, pressing his lips to Louis’ temple and squeezing his eyes shut. They wipe each other's tears as the audience claps. Louis holds Harry’s hand and smiles through tears at him before turning to face Jimmy, who is wiping tears from his face and clapping. 

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting to get that emotional.” Jimmy says as the clapping dies down. “You guys are seriously amazing, and even though there’s still so much to learn about your love story I can already tell just how special it is. When we come back, I’m going to make you sit through old videos of your younger days.”

“Oh great, thanks Jimmy.” Louis deadpans as he wipes the remaining tears from his cheeks, causing the audience to laugh. 

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. We’ll be back!”

The cameras turn off for a bit, and Jimmy leans over to talk to the two. “How are you guys? Everything okay so far?”

“Yes, thank you for doing this for us Jimmy. It means so much.” Harry says. 

“Of course. You guys are wonderful, how could I say no to something so incredible? Listen, since you guys are the only guests we have a lot more time for the interview segments, so don’t feel pressured to cut your answers short.”

The two smile at Jimmy, and he’s given the signal that they’re recording again. He perks up and faces the camera. 

“I’m here with the lovely Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, and I’m about to completely embarrass them with some old footage and have them explain to me what’s happening in those moments. Here’s the first video!”

An old video diary pops up, and Louis turns to look at Harry with a wide smile. He knows exactly which one it is, as his soft voice says “And I’d marry you Harry, because it rhymes”. A few more play right after, the two unable to keep their hands off each other and their eyes always finding each other, and there’s even a feature of the video where they unwrap the chocolate coins. 

Jimmy turns to Louis and laughs. “I know that the first one doesn’t need much explaining, but… what happened in all of those other moments?”

“I told Harry I would marry him because ‘Harry’ and ‘marry’ rhyme, but there’s plenty of other reasons I would marry him.”

“And all this time I thought that was the only reason you were with me!” Harry says sarcastically. 

“Oh shut up you big goof, you know I love you. The rest are just us trying to work through our feelings without actually talking to each other, everyone knew that we had feelings except well… each other. I think by the last couple of videos in that montage I had told Harry I liked him. The chocolate coins… well, I mean. I told him to kiss me, because I wanted him to kiss me, simple as that.”

Jimmy smiles and plays the next clip, and Harry laughs hysterically when he realizes it’s their Paris interview. A few moments flash on the screen from the interview, mostly where they touch each other’s arms, and where Louis pulls Harry’s chair closer to his own. Their dialogue is a bit flirty, and everyone laughs and ‘Aww’s as they watch the two falling in love in front of their eyes. 

Jimmy just looks at the two and laughs, and Harry answers. “It was Paris, we were really falling for each other, and we didn’t care who realized it. We were feeling extra brave that day.”

“Yeah, we were. Right after that we were never allowed another interview with just the two of us again.” Louis laughs.

“But you’re here now.” Jimmy offers. 

“Yeah, we’re here now.” Harry smiles. 

“Okay, we have a few more. You guys ready?”

“Bring it on, Fallon.” Louis says jokingly. 

Another clip comes up of their performance of “Little Things” on 1D Day, Harry sitting on the floor and singing to Louis, followed by a clip of their AMAs performance of “Night Changes”. The two watch attentively as their performances play on screen, Harry practically serenading Louis on live television.

“Harry, this is all you.” Louis says when the clips cut. 

“Uhm… I just… I love you. That’s all.” Harry says sincerely. 

“Aww!” Jimmy exclaims. “Okay, I’m almost done embarrassing you, we have one final clip.”

The final clip plays, and it’s a bunch of clips of them making the same movements at the same time. They look at each other with expressions of slight confusion, but they finish watching the video. 

“Any explanation for those?” Jimmy asks. 

“I feel so attacked right now.” Louis mutters, the audience laughing. 

“These were the most highly requested videos, it’s what the people want to know about.” Jimmy shrugs.

“I think a lot of the fans call this ‘mirroring’, yeah?” Harry asks.

The audience lets out a mumbling of ‘Yes’ and ‘Yeah’. 

“Well, I guess we’ve been so in tune with each other all these years we sort of do things at the same time and it’s natural for us? I don’t know how to explain these ones. We’re just so in sync after spending so much time with each other that I guess we just… mirror each other’s actions.”

“That’s the sign of a really special bond.” Jimmy says. “Alright, well that’s it for this segment. We have one more little game for these two, and then they’ll be hitting the stage for a duet of a song that will be revealed at the end of the show. We’ll be back!”

The next break is a bit shorter, but Louis turns to Harry and talks quietly. 

“Are you doing okay love?”

“I’m perfect. How are you?” Harry asks. 

“Good. Nervous for the performance.”

“We’ll be great. We’re us, we always are.”

Louis leans into him and smiles as they’re given a signal to begin again. 

“We’re back, and I have whiteboards and markers for you two.” Jimmy says excitedly, handing the two mini whiteboards and dry erase markers with little erasers on the caps. “So this is a little lightning round. I’m going to ask you some quick questions and you have to answer either ‘Harry’ or ‘Louis’, and if it’s yourself you can either write your name or ‘me’. Got it?”

“Yes.” The two say at the same time. 

“Alright! First question… who snores the loudest?”

The pair scribble their answers quickly, laughing when it’s revealed that they answered ‘Harry’.

“You guys don’t understand, when he’s in a really deep sleep it sounds like a car horn in the house.” Louis says, causing Harry to gasp in shock. 

“Lou!” He squeaks. 

Louis shrugs as Jimmy asks the next question through a fit of laughter. “Okay, alright. Who bursts into song randomly most often?”

They turn their boards around, Louis has ‘Harry’ and Harry has ‘Louis’.

“I think we feed off each other to be quite honest, but Lou definitely sings the most. He’s always humming or mumbling a tune or lyrics. He’s a little lyrical genius and I love it.”

Louis blushes as the audience cheers in reaction. 

“What’s your argument Louis?” Jimmy asks. 

“Harry sings when he cooks, which is a lot. He always makes up little songs, or if he’s listening to a playlist he sings along to whatever he’s listening to. We do feed off each other, though.”

“The perks of being a musical couple, I suppose.” Jimmy says, which causes the two to laugh. “Next question. Who’s always up late?”

They take a few moments to answer, but they flip their boards around and both say ‘Louis’.

“You’re a night owl then?”

“I mean, I’m not up super late all the time, but usually when I have a good idea for a song or I can’t stop thinking about something, I’m up late.”

“Sometimes I wake up to see him still not asleep and I’ll stay awake with him. But Lou can definitely be a night owl.” Harry says sweetly.

“Who has the best music taste?”

They flip their boards around and they both say ‘Both’.

“I think this one is a bit subjective because we do have some different tastes and influences, but I’m always open to listening to Louis’ music and he’s always open to listening to mine. We have a shared playlist where we add songs for each other and it’s a nice way to get new music from each other even if work keeps us apart at times. It’s like I have Louis with me always.”

“I mean I obviously want to say my taste is better, but let’s be real, we both have really interesting inspirations and artists we love listening to. It’s really cool to hear some of the songs Harry shares with me and then hear those inspirations in his music. We also have a lot of the same taste because of the band, there were a lot of different styles brought to the table but we managed to bring them together and make some really great records.”

“Who’s the best at board games?”

Harry says himself, Louis also says himself. 

“Not true! You flip the board over whenever we play Scrabble because I always beat you!” Harry laughs. 

“You cheat at Monopoly.” Louis says in defense. 

“You cheated at Smurfs all those years ago.”

“One, you’ll never let me live that down. Two, that’s not a board game!”

Jimmy laughs at their banter, “Alright, alright. Two more questions and then we’re done with this game. Okay, who gives the best advice?”

They flip their boards around, both say ‘Louis’. 

“I only wrote myself because everyone always says I know what to say in tough situations.” Louis shrugs. “I guess I give decent advice, not to knock Harry’s advice because he’s excellent at giving advice if I ask for it.”

“I’m not offended in the slightest by Louis saying himself, he truly gives the best advice in nearly every aspect of life. I can ask him anything and he’ll always give me helpful ways to deal with whatever I need help with. He’s amazing with words and, as cheesy as it sounds, so wise beyond his years. I love listening to him help people.”

Louis smiles and erases his board as Jimmy asks the final question. “Final question, who do you think will pop the question?”

The two write on their board and turn them around for the final time. Harry’s board says ‘Probably Louis’, while Louis’ says ‘Harry most likely’.

“Interesting. You guys think the other will ask. What makes you say the opposite?”

“I mean, I would love to beat Louis to it, but I know that he’s a true romantic at heart and he would work really hard to make it as memorable and special as possible.”

Louis smirks, “I think Harry will ask first because he’s so determined, once he sets his mind to something he doesn’t give up. At the end of the day, I feel like we’ll both try to propose on the same day and screw up the other’s plans by mistake.”

“Sounds about right.” Harry laughs. 

Jimmy smiles at the two, “I just want to say one final thank you to you two for being here. This has been so much fun and I hope you enjoyed the night.”

“Always a pleasure Jimmy, thank you.” Harry says.

“Sit tight guys, we have an exclusive performance from Harry and Louis coming up after the break. We’ll be back!”

Harry and Louis stand from the couch and are brought backstage where they change quickly. The two have opted for simple all black attire, each donning a rainbow pin on their shirts. Louis smiles at Harry, giving him a soft kiss before they’re brought out to the stage and wait for the signal. 

“We have an extremely special performance for you guys tonight. For the first time as a duet on stage, here’s Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.”

The crowd erupts into cheers as the familiar piano chords fill the room, and the second Harry’s soothing voice fills the studio the cheering comes to a halt, the audience falling completely silent. 

“ _If I could fly, I’d be coming right back home to you…_ ” Harry turns his entire body to Louis as he sings. Louis nods along, never breaking eye contact with Harry. He flawlessly sings the first verse, and Louis harmonizes with him on the chorus. 

“ _Now you know me, for your eyes only._ ”

Instead of the second verse, the key switches and Louis jumps in. “ _So hot that I couldn’t take it, wanna wake up and see your face and remember how good it was being here last night…_ ”

The crowd remains silent as Louis sings, his voice cracking slightly as he belts out his final line, “ _It was there, I saw it in your eyes._ ”

Harry’s eyes fill with tears as he takes over, “ _I was stumbling, looking in the dark with an empty heart…_ ”

They harmonize the rest of the verse and chorus, never turning away from each other. They break into the bridge of “If I Could Fly”, the piano coming to a halt as they confess their love for each other, alternating lyrics.

“ _I’ll make this feel like home._ ” Louis sings softly.

“ _For your eyes only, I show you my heart. For when you’re lonely and forget who you are._ ” Harry belts out with passion. 

“ _When you’re lost I’ll find the way and I’ll be your light_.”

“ _Now you know me, for your eyes only._ ”

“ _You’ll never feel like you’re alone_.”

“ _For your eyes only._ _I’ll make this feel like home_.” The two sing together, the final note ringing through the speakers.

The pair step away from their mics and into each other’s arms, unable to contain their emotions as the audience bursts into a booming applause. They stay wrapped up in each other, not caring about the outside world or anyone else. When the audience applause dies down a bit, Louis unwraps an arm from around Harry and leans into his side so he can face the audience. The two wave and thank the audience, Jimmy approaching once more to hug and congratulate them. 

The remainder of the night moves by quickly, the two finding themselves being congratulated on an amazing performance left and right. When they’re in the safety of their dressing room, they cling to each other for a few moments, the impact of what they did hitting them at once. They get dressed to leave and thank Jimmy once more for a wonderful show, and then they’re out in the brisk New York February air. 

“We did it.” Louis says.

“We did it.” Harry repeats.

Louis looks up at the sky, realizing that just a few weeks ago he looked at the same sky in London when their lives were still hidden. He knows it’ll take time, but he can already feel some of the past scars beginning to fade. He grabs Harry’s hand and squeezes it one, two, three times while they begin to walk back to their hotel. Harry looks down and smiles, pulling Louis aside and kissing him sweetly. 

“What was that for?” Louis asks. 

“Do I need a reason?”

Louis lets out a giggle, kissing Harry once more and taking in everything about the private moment. Harry is his, Louis is Harry’s, and they finally, finally made it.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading as always! you can find me on tumblr @hsmp3 :)


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